The traditional way of teaching research often lacks actual information-literacy instruction and, thus, fails to teach students how to be independent researchers. Teachers may help students regain curiosity by guiding them to shift their idea of research from a fact-finding and presentation exercise to a process of inquiry that includes gathering and analyzing evidence, formulating new understandings, and reflecting on the evidence and understandings to share the result of their inquiry. This article describes the creation of a concept map to plan search queries. Students may work through these steps, developing a deeper level of engagement with their topics by categorizing terms by concepts and organizing how those concepts may be connected in a query. Next, students will brainstorm other terms to express these ideas, maybe narrowing or maybe broadening the concepts. Once students engage in high-level questioning and have a plan for something they genuinely want to explore, they will need to develop an understanding of the structure of knowledge and apply it to their searches. By teaching students how to search strategically for the purpose of pursuing authentic inquiries, and by shifting focus to the process rather than a page and citation count, students gain skills to be effective information-seekers beyond one particular assignment and reignite their curiosity.

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